


Take Two

by Nebby_Webby



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Kinda, Light Angst, M/M, Minor mentions of gore, Time Loop, takes place in the killing game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22921015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebby_Webby/pseuds/Nebby_Webby
Summary: What if Rantaro was given a second chance after  choosing to save his classmates? What if he was given a second chance after Kaede killed him? What if he was given a second chance after everyone who killed him from thereon after?Rantaro has been given such fate, and it's one he wishes he had the power to stop; for all the chances in the world are meaningless if you're always given a second one.
Relationships: Amami Rantaro/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60





	Take Two

He once was Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Adventurer.

Then, he was Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Survivor.

Weeks after that, he was Rantaro Amami the Ultimate Detective, and many other Rantaros in between.

Currently he is Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Astronaut.

Now, this intro is rather contradictory, as he is not all of those talents at once- but rather holds the memories of them, so to speak. A little hard to grasp, even Rantaro himself doesn't quite understand it. He mostly just wishes it'd stop. Life is a precious thing, and the astronaut knows this quite well, but having to live life after life is quite a nuisance. 

It started after his first killing game. It'd make sense to go from Adventurer to Survivor- he'd asked for it, after all. But once that shot-put ball went through his skull, events became troubling. Instead of being given the gift of eternal slumber, he was greeted with metal, like that of a locker. Metal and a sinking feeling that he'd been here before, because he'd most certainly had! However when exiting the locker, a girl with white hair was there to introduce herself;

Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Adventurer.

And this is where it all went wrong.

From that point on Rantaro was on a seemingly never ending loop of slightly different killing games.

At first he thought it was because someone out there was giving him a second chance; a chance to be trusting of others and a chance to win. But after getting literally stabbed in the back he soon realized this was not a gift, but torture. He hated how he had to see his friends die over and over again, he hated how he no longer cried at their executions, Rantaro didn’t want to become numb to all of this but it's so hard not to. He especially hated the games where he was a victim. It didn't necessarily hurt anymore, pain was just a concept to him now; it was just frustrating for all his progress to be lost.

Not that he makes much progress anyway, he doesn't even know what to do or look for to end all of this nonsense.

At least there's  _ some _ highlights though; specifically the one where he was the Ultimate Leader. During that game he had woken up beside the Ultimate Pianist- Shuichi Saihara. they became very close over the course of the game and even ended up winning together. but once again just like everything else; he was forgotten and rewritten. Rantaro still remembers what that Shuichi was like though, it’s rather hard to forget. He remembers the late nights they shared puzzling over the mastermind’s identity, he remembers the warmth of Shuichi's body against his. He remembers the night they almost lost it all and the kiss he used to shut up the pianist's paranoid ramblings. Sure, that's not the greatest way to calm someone down, but it was desperate enough to convey how much he needed him around and it distracted Shuichi enough to make him drop the knife. He's gotten close with other Shuichi's before, but none feel the same. It's hard to love someone during a killing game, but Rantaro bets that's as close as he'll ever get. It's unfortunate that it was an unspoken thing; Shuichi had tried once but Rantaro stopped him. If he had heard those words he's not sure continuing on like this would be a possibility. That was a long time ago, so long Rantaro doesn't even have the number of how many games have passed since then. It's been so long he doesn't even remember the songs Shuichi would play for him; what once used to be things engraved in his mind- songs he'd hum to bring him back to earth and soothe his breaking point- now have become faint whispers in the halls. Sometimes on lonely nights he'll hear a string of chords coming from the pianist's lab even though there's been no one to play for a long time. But he knows those chords, they're from a melody meant for him and out of all the ghosts within this school, this song is the one he wishes would cease it's haunt.

However reminiscing gets him nowhere, so he quickly stops such fantasies. Today's agenda should be focusing on finding discrepancies between timelines. This activity doesn't produce many results, but it keeps him busy and that's all he could really ask for. If anything, it might make him more suspicious; this timeline has run its course and he'd prefer to leave it.

After some exploring he comes up and rounds the stairs of the fifth floor, not many come up here aside from Gonta but he's usually too engrossed in his sewing to notice much. Perhaps he should check out the detective's lab? Keebo prefers to stay away from it and the poisons in there could potentially be of use. He opened the door hoping to be all alone in his little escapade, but unfortunately there sat the Ultimate artist- Shuichi Saihara- in the worn brown armchair, head up and tears running down his face, looking like he'd been poisoned. Rantaro wanted to feel horrible, he really did, but this had to be the tenth or twelfth time Shuichi had been murdered in a grotesque way, and it's getting a little harder to care each time. He'll see him in the next loop either way, so what does it matter?

Ah, but it's dangerous to think like that.

Quickly he rushed over, and had to pretend like he wasn't just thinking of his friend's innards splayed like a map, as upon closer inspection the boy isn't dead quite yet; just paralyzed. The tips of his fingers wiggled as if he's trying to give a small wave and the action almost maked him laugh, but he stifled it. He kneeled next to the artist and tried to look as concerned as he could, Shuichi must be scared out of his mind and Rantaro wasn't that much of a dick to deny him some comfort. Luckily, with the way his eyes and other muscles twitched Rantaro figures the toxin must be wearing off soon, so he won’t have to suffer like this for long.

The astronaut was right, and after an hour or two Shuichi's body mostly returned to normal. His voice was heavily slurred but he explained that Ryoma had been the one to poison him. It seems strange for the butler to do that, but perhaps this week's motive had given the guy enough determination to do so. Rantaro hadn't exactly been paying attention, none of the motives worked on him so there wasn’t much point. They spoke about topics Rantaro didn't care to remember until Shuichi motioned to an open bottle left on the desk, as that was the one Ryoma used and he wanted to know what he forced him to drink. After a quick skim it appears to be some form of biocide, a type of poison not known for paralyzing but this must be a specially made mixture. Shuichi notes that this poison would be good for torture and Rantaro can't tell if he's joking or not. They fall silent for a while until the artist meekly asks for comfort so Rantaro tells him simply that it'll be alright. It's flat and a weak attempt, but Shuichi smiles like it means something. It's sad in a pathetic kind of way, because he does want to help Shuichi more but he doesn’t want to help  _ this _ Shuichi. It's selfish, but he's the only one that means anything to the astronaut- he was just kinder back then in general, back when he still had hope of getting out of here. He must have been making a strange face, because Shuichi's smile has faded and been replaced with concern. Rantaro was about to offer an apology, but the artist's hand raises to wipe his tears away. Ah so that's it, he'd been crying. 

At least a little part of him feels bad over his soon-to-be death. (Or feels bad for himself)

Shuichi says that there's no reason to be sad; they'll see each other soon. The astronaut makes a quick quip asking if that's a threat and the artist laughs until air is replaced with blood. The coughing fit makes him hunch over and eventually collapse and he falls to the floor with a satisfying thud, wincing as tears prick the edges of his eyes. Rantaro tries to help him up, but he insists on staying on the floor- "artists vision" and what-not, muttering something about wanting to die "cool" this time. He gives the artist an inquisitive look but the boy just smirks and says he wouldn't understand. Oh, as  _ if  _ he'll let the most interesting thing he's heard in months slip by him like this; perhaps a little too fervently he pushes for Shuichi to explain himself, but he refuses to speak, saying that it's "silly" and would sound crazy. But Rantaro knows that Shuichi knows something-  _ remembers  _ something, so he won’t give up. Maybe his memories aren't all there? Shuichi was always the kind of guy who had to piece everything together before sharing, so if he just reminded him of a bit more then maybe...

"Look, I don't know what  _ you're _ going on about- but being  _ actually _ cut in half during a magic show isn't  _ that  _ lame of a way to go."

Shuichi Saihara- Ultimate Tennis Pro, was murdered by Korekiyo Shinguji, the Ultimate Robot. Man, was Kokichi pissed when he saw his magician props used as instruments for murder. That was one of the first times he’d seen him scream in frustration, poor guy.

The artist looks mortified.

"You mean you've- you were there? You’ve seen me die before…? But I thought... Rantaro, how many times? Wait, how far back do you remember?" 

Before Rantaro can even answer, Shuichi sits up and begins to hum a soft melody. At once, the astronaut's mind fails him and his thoughts go blank and Shuichi notices he recognizes it right away. The man beneath him looks in pain- but now it’s not just because of the poison. As Shuichi hums the rest of the song Rantaro cradles him closer. It can't really be him, there's no way; the only person that should know that song was him and fate couldn’t be this kind. Though then again, he  _ has _ been poisoned so… he’ll die anyway and fate exists as it has always been- cruel. Rantaro starts to sob as the realization he'll be losing his Shuichi twice hits him. None of this is fair, it's stupid to think it could be, but he continues crying anyway. Faintly he can hear Shuichi trying to shush him, he shouldn't be wasting his breath, but he's too distressed to stop him. He's back and Rantaro didn't even notice… was the artist's attempts at befriending him so often due to his longing? And here he only thought of the painter as a nuisance. Perhaps if he paid attention to the people instead of the environment he'd find more clues- does anyone else remember? Rantaro only really considered the others as variables instead of valuables and this thought makes him sick, at one point in his life he sacrificed himself so that his classmates could live, but now he doesn’t even see them as people. Another deep cough from Shuichi brings his attention back to the present and he looks down to see his tired and fading face which says far too much. It's time to go and he’s not ready, though he knows he never will be. Rantaro lifts his arm and kisses the ex-pianist's wrist faintly, as if too much pressure will shatter him into a million pieces.

"I love you, Shuichi. I'm sorry I haven't said it sooner."

The pianist laughs and weakly says it's alright, maybe they'll meet again in the next life and then they can have a second chance. Rantaro begs any god that will listen for that to be the case but he knows that if there is a god it stopped listening long ago. Quietly he finally passes and the astronaut doesn't leave Shuichi's side until the others pull him off the corpse hours later. 

They find the killer fairly easily and swiftly execute him. After that things go back to normal; another day of mourning, another motive, another murder, another murderer, rinse and repeat. All while Rantaro feels numb. Even when getting punished by the mastermind, as Kaito swings a bat into his ribs and he hears the sharp  _ crack _ of his bones, Rantaro ultimately feels nothing. His vision starts to blot out, but he knows he doesn't need to try and feel. After all even if he does, everything 

will just 

reset.

**Author's Note:**

> A supreme leader and a pianist sit side by side at a grand piano, hands resting on the sleek ivory keys and at mild ease after learning the killing game they were going to partake in has been cancelled in favour of a dating show. A strange turn of events, but a much preferred change. The leader hums a tune which rings familiar in the taller pianist's ear, but he can't pin from where. It doesn't matter, he thinks, but it still leaves him wondering why he feels so happy to sit with a stranger like this. Softly, the leader rests his hands on top of the pianist's and they play the tune together, with the leader well, leading. It's a bit shocking to see someone like him have such musical prowess but the melody they play together relinquishes any worry in his body and lulls him into a peaceful state. Though he doesn’t trust this “game” in the slightest, he feels happy to be given a second chance.
> 
> ________________________________
> 
> [fortnite dances]  
> idk what this is, I just hit post, fam  
> if u liked peas comment ty have a nice day [thumbs up]  
> also knife scene was intentionally left vague but it is not abt suicide


End file.
